The Youth Leadership Camp for Climate Change (YLCCC) 2017, a series of trainings for young Indonesians on climate change, is an exemplary multi-stakeholder collaboration, involving UNESCO Office Jakarta, UN CC: Learn, The Climate Reality Project Indonesia, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Youth for Climate Change Indonesia, and The Indonesian Office of the President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Among the YLCCC goals are 1) to increase participants’ knowledge about the basics of climate change; 2) to equip participants with climate change communication skills through making movies and e-posters, and organizing peer education forums; and 3) to build a network of young Indonesians who are active in climate change actions. The camps integrated a series of 3 days and 2 nights training sessions in three UNESCO Heritage Sites in Indonesia: Cibodas Biosphere Reserve in West Java; Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatera; and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Lampung.

YLCCC 2017, an initiative that evolved from Youth for Climate Change Camp activities, organized by The Climate Reality Project Indonesia and its partners since 2011, attracted 1705 applicants, 150 of which were selected based on their experience, previous activities and commitments. Three best participants, one from each camp with impactful post camp activities, will be sponsored by UN:CC LEARN to represent Indonesia at 2017 Tribal Climate Camp at Mount Rainier, Washington, USA.

The YLCCC activities are widely covered in national print and electronic media as well as the social media and the organizers’ websites. The Climate Reality Project Indonesia, however, believes that more information dissemination is necessary to share this excellent partaking of multi-stakeholders in empowering youth to address climate change issues and to take actions.

The Climate Reality Project, founded in 2006 by Al Gore, former US Vice President and a Nobel Laureate is a global network of activists committed to spreading awareness of the climate crisis and working for solutions to the greatest challenge of our time. Currently there are more than 12,000 climate leaders in 135 countries who have been trained by Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project on the climate crisis and its solutions.

On a recent trip to the United States, Amanda Katili Niode PhD, Manager of the Climate Reality Project Indonesia, presented the YLCCC activities and achievements in a high-level meeting led by Ken Berlin, the President and CEO of The Climate Reality Project in the organization’s headquarters in Washington DC. The meeting was also broadcasted to the Climate Reality West Coast office in Boulder, Colorado, and to the Branch Offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, and Africa.Watching a short video clip on YLCCC activities immersed the audience in the national parks, the climate crisis and the enthusiasms of youth in addressing a global issue.

In a discussion that followed, impressed by YLCCC initiative, Climate Reality officials conveyed their appreciation to the YLCCC organizers. Stephen Mills, the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Climate Reality Headquarters urged branch managers to share notes and strategies and to apply the multi-stakeholder collaboration model in Climate Reality branch offices.